Coronavirus: Latest Global Developments

Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th May, 2020 ) :Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis.

- Lockdowns ease in Europe - Lockdown measures are finally eased in Spain's two biggest cities Madrid and Barcelona, where people can now meet in groups of up to 10 people in their homes or on the terraces of bars and restaurants. Beaches also reopen in parts of the country after months-long closures.

Italy reopens swimming pools and sports centres, Greece does the same with restaurants and cafes, while Ukrainians can again take the metro in capital Kiev for the first time in 10 weeks.

- Brazil's President rallies - Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro rallies with his supporters on Sunday, ditching his face mask and breaking social distancing measures even as Brazil emerges as the country with the second-highest number of cases in the world, after the United States, with more than 360,000 reported cases.

In response to the surge, Washington suspends entry into the US of non-Americans who have been in the South American nation in the previous 14 days.

- Outrage over British aide - British newspaper headlines are hostile after Prime Minister Boris Johnson backed Dominic Cummings, a top advisor in the British government, who was seen visiting his parents 250 miles (400 kilometres) away from his London home during the country's lockdown, despite suffering from virus symptoms. "What planet are they on?" the right-wing tabloid Daily Mail asks.

- Nearly 345,000 deaths - The pandemic has killed at least 344,964 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally at 1100 GMT on Monday, based on official sources.

The United States has recorded the most deaths with 97,722 fatalities. It is followed by Britain with 36,793, Italy with 32,785, Spain with 28,752, France with 28,367 and Brazil 22,666.

Belgium has the highest per capita death rate with 803 fatalities per million inhabitants.

- Japan lifts state of emergency - Japan, which has been spared the worst of the pandemic, lifts a nationwide state of emergency, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying "very stringent criteria" have been met. But government officials warn caution is still necessary to prevent another wave.

- Iran reopens shrines - Iran reopens major Shiite shrines, more than two months after they were closed because of the middle East's deadliest coronavirus outbreak.

- Berlin to Lufthansa's rescue - Coronavirus-stricken German airline group Lufthansa strikes in principle a nine-billion-euro ($9.8 billion) rescue deal with the German government, that would see Berlin become a shareholder, sources familiar with the talks tell AFP.

- Japan premium melon prices plunge - A pair of melons from Yubari, on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, sell for just 120,000 Yen ($1,115) at the season's first auction -- 40 times less than last year's record price tag of five million yen ($46,000) as the coronavirus keeps away rich corporate clients.